North Hollywood shootout

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The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily-armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Eugene Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, and patrol and SWAT officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on February 28, 1997. It happened when responding patrol officers engaged Phillips and Matasareanu, both 26 at the time,^[2] leaving a bank which the two men had just robbed. Ten officers and seven civilians sustained injuries before both robbers were killed.^[3] Phillips and Matasareanu had robbed several armored vehicles prior to their attempt in North Hollywood and were notorious for their heavy armament, which included automatic rifles.

Local patrol officers at the time were typically armed with a 9 mm or .38 Special pistol on their person, with some having a 12-gauge shotgun available in their cars. Phillips and Matasareanu carried fully automatic rifles, with ammunition capable of penetrating police body armor, and wore body armor of their own. Since the police handguns could not penetrate the bank robbers' body armor, the patrol officers' efforts were ineffective. SWAT eventually arrived with weapons that could penetrate and they also appropriated several semi-automatic rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the appropriate firepower for patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future.^[4]

[edit] Backgrounds

Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu first met at Gold's Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, California in 1989. They had a mutual interest in weightlifting and bodybuilding.^{[citation needed]} Phillips imported steel-core ammunition for his illegally modified assault rifles, and acquired Aramid body armor.^[5]

In October 1993, Phillips and Matasareanu were arrested in Glendale, northeast of Los Angeles, California, for speeding.^[6] A subsequent search of their vehicle—after Phillips surrendered with a concealed weapon—found two semi-automatic rifles, two handguns, over 1,600 rounds of 7.62 mm rifle ammunition, over 1,200 rounds of 9 mm and .45 ACP handgun ammunition, radio scanners, smoke bombs, improvised explosive devices, body armor vests, and three different California license plates.^[7] Though they were initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery,^[8] neither of them served more than 100 days in jail, though they each were put on three years' probation.^[9] After their release, most of their seized property was returned to them.^[10]

Sometime in 1995, the pair ambushed a Brinks armored car and killed one guard in the robbery. In May 1996, they robbed two branches of Bank of America in San Fernando, stealing approximately US$1.5 million.^[11] Phillips and Matasareanu were dubbed the "High Incident Bandits" by investigators due to the heavy weaponry they had used in three bank robberies prior to their attempt in North Hollywood.^[12]

[edit] The shootout

Larry Phillips, Jr. (left) and Emil Matasareanu (right) engaged LAPD officers in a firefight after robbing a branch of Bank of America.

On the morning of 28 February 1997, after months of preparation, including extensive reconnoitering of their intended target—the Bank of America branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard—Phillips and Matasareanu loaded five illegally modified fully automatic rifles: three Romanian AIM rifles (an AK-47 copy), a modified HK91 and an AR-15. They also possessed two 9 mm Beretta 92F pistols, a .38 caliber revolver, and approximately 3,300 rounds of ammunition in box and drum magazine, and made their way from their apartment to the bank in a white Chevrolet Celebrity.^[13] They wore their homemade body armor, as well as metal trauma plates to protect vital organs, and they took phenobarbital to calm their nerves.^[14]

Phillips and Matasareanu arrived at the Bank of America branch office at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood around 9:17 a.m., and set their watch alarms for 8 minutes, which was the amount of time they estimated it would take for law enforcement officials to respond. (Phillips had been using a radio scanner to listen to police transmissions to determine this time.)^[14] However, as they walked into the bank they were spotted by an LAPD patrol car driving down Laurel Canyon, and the officers in the car radioed in a possible 211, code for an armed robbery.^[15]

Inside the bank, Phillips and Matasareanu forced the assistant manager to open the vault. They fired at least 100 rounds to scare the approximately 30 bank staff and customers^[3] inside the bank to discourage resistance.^[16] They were only able to get $303,305, instead of the expected $750,000 because the bank had altered the delivery schedule.^[12]

At 9:38 a.m. Phillips exited the bank through its north doorway and Matasareanu through its south doorway. Both encountered dozens of LAPD patrol officers who had arrived after the first-responding officers radioed a "shots fired" call.^[17] Television news helicopters responding to the "shots fired" LAPD dispatch arrived minutes later, and, despite being shot at by the gunmen themselves, broadcast throughout. SWAT commanders used the live helicopter broadcasts to pass critical, time-sensitive information to the officers on the scene.

Phillips and Matasareanu engaged the officers in a firefight, firing armor-piercing rounds into the patrol cars that had been positioned on Laurel Canyon in front of the bank.^[13] The patrol officers were armed with standard Beretta 92-type 9 mm pistols and .38 caliber revolvers, and some also carried 12-gauge pump-action shotguns, but the body armor worn by Phillips and Matasareanu was strong enough to withstand them.^[12] Multiple officers and civilians were wounded in the 7 to 8 minutes between when the shooting began and Matasareanu entered their white sedan to make a getaway; Phillips remained outside of the vehicle and continued firing on the police.^[12] A TAC (tactical) alert was issued, and 18 minutes after the shooting had begun, a SWAT team armed with automatic weapons arrived; they also commandeered an armored truck which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers who were pinned down.^[12]

Scale map of the area around Bank of America ($), final locations of Phillips (P) and Matasareanu (M).
Streets-
A: Laurel Canyon Boulevard - B: Agnes Avenue - C: Ben Avenue - D: Gentry Avenue - E: Redford Avenue - F: Morella Avenue
1: Archwood Street - 2: Lemay Street - 3: Kittridge Street

At 9:51 Phillips, who had been using the getaway vehicle as cover, split up from Matasareanu, turned east on Archwood Street, and continued to fire at the police with his AIMS (Romanian AK-47).^[18] He reloaded the automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine shortly before he was shot in the left thumb, which may have prevented him from removing the shell that caused a stovepipe malfunction.^[12] He set it down, pulled out a Beretta pistol, and continued firing at the police with his unwounded right hand. He was then again shot in the right hand and dropped the pistol and then picked it up again, and shortly thereafter, Phillips was seen from KCBS' helicopter's live feed placing the muzzle of his pistol under his chin and shooting himself while a round from a police officer's handgun simultaneously severed his spine.^[19]

Matasareanu's vehicle was rendered nearly inoperable after its tires were blown out.^[12] At 9:56 he stole a pickup truck on Archwood, three blocks east of where Phillips was shot, and transferred all of his weapons and ammunition from the getaway car to the truck.^[20] However, Matasareanu was unable to start the truck since its owner had taken the keys for the separate starting motor.^[12] As KCBS and KCAL helicopters hover overhead, a patrol car driven by SWAT officers quickly arrived. Matasareanu left the truck, took cover behind the original getaway car, and engaged them immediately. At least one SWAT officer fired his M16 rifle below the cars and wounded Matasareanu in his unprotected lower legs, and he soon surrendered.^[12] The police radioed for an ambulance, but Matasareanu succumbed to his wounds by the time the ambulance had reached the scene.

Most of the incident, including the death of Phillips and the capture of Matasareanu, was broadcast live by news helicopters, which hovered over the scene and televised the action as events unfolded.^[13] Over 300 various law enforcement officers had responded to the city-wide TAC alert.^[21] By the time the shooting had stopped, Phillips and Matasareanu had fired about 1,300 rounds.^[12] Phillips was hit 11 times, including the self-inflicted shot to the head; Matasareanu was hit 29 times, and despite his wounds, lived another 40 minutes before dying. The coroner's report listed cardiogenic shock as a contributing factor.

[edit] Aftermath and controversy

The illegally-modified automatic AR-15 with a drum magazine used by Matasareanu, photographed at the location where he was shot down. The dark item in the background marked "25" is the mask that he wore.

Phillips and Matasareanu were firing fully-automatic rifles loaded with armor-piercing ammunition.^[22][23][12] The robbers were protected by body armor, which could not be penetrated by the officers' handguns and shotguns. While Phillips was shot in the hand and shortly afterward committed suicide, a SWAT officer reported during the final gunfire exchange that his M16 rounds could not penetrate Matasareanu's armor (due to the trauma plates),^{[citation needed]} suggesting that the outcome could have been different had both robbers been wearing leg protection.^[12] The homemade body armor was heavy, reportedly weighing as much as three bowling balls,^{[citation needed]} and limited the robbers' mobility.

The ineffectiveness of the pistol rounds and shotgun pellets in penetrating their body armor led to a trend in the United States towards arming selected police patrol officers with semi-automatic 5.56 mm AR-15 type rifles.^[12] Seven months after the incident, The Pentagon gave 600 surplus M16s to the LAPD;^[24] other cities, like Miami, also moved to supply patrol officers, not just SWAT teams, with heavier firepower.^[25] LAPD patrol vehicles now carry AR-15s as standard issue, with bullet-resistant Kevlar plating in their doors as well.^[26]

In this case, approximately 650 rounds were fired at two heavily armed and heavily armored men, who had fired 1,100 rounds themselves.^[3] The responding police officers directed their fire at the "center mass" or torsos of Matasareanu and Phillips. Each man was shot and penetrated by at least ten bullets, yet both continued to violently attack officers for the extended engagement. Matasareanu received multiple non-lethal cardiovascular injuries.^{[citation needed]}

Matasareanu after police removed the mask, but before his death

The LAPD was later criticized^{[citation needed]} for not allowing Matasareanu to receive medical attention, to which the department countered by stating that ambulance personnel were following standard procedure in hostile situations by refusing to enter "the hot zone", as Matasareanu was still considered to be dangerous.^[12] Some reports indicate that he was lying on the pavement with no weapons for approximately an hour before ambulances arrived.^[27] A lawsuit, on the behalf of Matasareanu's children, was filed against members of the LAPD, claiming that Matasareanu's civil rights were violated and that he was allowed to bleed to death.^[28] The lawsuit was tried in United States District Court in February and March 2000, and ended in a mistrial with the jury deadlocked.^[29] The suit was later dropped when Matasareanu's family agreed to dismiss the action with a waiver of malicious prosecution.^[30]

The year following the shootout, 19 officers of the LAPD received both the LAPD Medal of Valor and the national Medal of Valor for their actions,^[31] and met President Bill Clinton.^[32] In 2003, a film about the incident was produced, titled 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out. In 2004, the Los Angeles Police Department Museum opened an exhibit featuring two life-size mannequins of Phillips and Matasareanu fitted with the body of high tech steel armor they wore, as well as the weaponry they used in the firefight.^[33]

[edit] See also

• 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood shoot-out - the movie based on this event.
• Shootout
• Newhall massacre
• Norco shootout
• 1986 FBI Miami shootout

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

Coordinates: 34°11′31″N 118°23′47″W / 34.19194°N 118.39639°W / 34.19194; -118.39639